This invention relates to a glue-down prefinished wood flooring product, and a method of manufacturing such a product. Wooden flooring is typically installed by either nailing strips of adjacent wood flooring strips to a subfloor to form an essentially seamless wooden flooring surface, or by applying wood flooring strips to a subfloor which has been pre-coated with, for example, a mastic-type layer into which the flooring strips are embedded.
Also, in the past applicant marketed an adhesive-backed "peel and stick" parquet wood flooring. The parquet squares were five-sixteenths inch thick solid wood. Adhesive was applied to both sides of a relatively thick foam pad. One side of the foam pad was adhered to the back side of the wooden square, and the other side covered by a release paper until application. The parquet squares were adhered to the floor by peeling off the release paper and sticking the padded squares to the subfloor. However, over time the adhesive released from the subfloor. In addition, the relatively thick foam pad sheared, i.e., delaminated irregularly along a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the parquet squares, and caused failure of the floor. This product was removed from the market due to these failures.
There is a need in the market for a prefinished hardwood strip flooring product which can be adhered by an adhesive directly to a suitable subfloor, and which will serve with the same durability and longevity as other, more expensive wood flooring systems. This flooring product should preferably have the same solid "feel" as a full thickness, solid hardwood floor of the type typically nailed into place, without any of the "spring" or "bounce" which characterizes prior art glue-down flooring systems which rely on relatively thick foam adhesive pads to adhere the system to the subfloor.
The product according to the application is faster, easier and less expensive to install than either a nail-down flooring system or a flooring system laid into a pre-applied mastic layer. The product has particular application in the flooring aftermarket for use by "do-it-yourself" homeowners who want the expensive look of high quality hardwood flooring without the disruption resulting from a contractor-installed floor. There is presently a trend back towards the use of hardwood flooring, and many homeowners are removing existing carpeting in order to replace it with hardwood flooring. A flooring system which can be installed onto a subfloor onto which a carpet was previously installed without the need to raise doors and moldings to accommodate a greater thickness is desirable, since it simplifies the do-it-yourself installation process.
The flooring product and method according to this application address those needs.